Have you ever walked on a thick carpet and then gotten a shock when you touched something metal? Static electricity occurs when electrons are rubbed off of one surface onto another. If one of the surfaces is you, you will get a shock when you touch something that is a good conductor connected to the ground.

Josh: I know it’s late, but would you like to stay for dinner?
Betty: That’s music to my ears. I’m starving.

When we hear something that makes us happy, we can describe it as “music to our ears”. In this example, Betty liked what Josh said, but it can refer to sounds other than speech as well. For example, the sound of construction is loud and irritating, but if you own the building being made, it could be music to your ears.

Bob: Do me a favor.
Joe: What is it?
Bob: Watch my kids tonight so I can go out to a movie with my wife.

A favor is something nice you do for someone. If you have done someone a lot of favors and they haven’t paid you back somehow, you could say they owe you a favor. If you like an idea, you are “in favor” of it. If you win a lawsuit, the court decided “in your favor”.

When someone pours you a drink, they might ask you to say “when”. That means they don’t know how much you want to drink, so you should say something when they have poured enough into your glass. Perhaps it is an abbreviation of “Say when it is enough.”

“Mikan” is often translated as “orange,” but they are different from the fruit you will get if you ask for an orange. There are many kinds of mikans and many kinds or oranges, but the mikans belong to a group of fruits called “mandarin oranges”. In general, oranges are hard to peel than mandarin oranges.